Maryland Man Sentenced to Halfway House
For Failing to Register as a Sex Offender -
- U.S. Marshals Service Uncovered Pattern of Deceit by Defendant-

            WASHINGTON - Andre A. McGant, 54, of Rockville, Md., was sentenced today to five months in a halfway house on a federal charge of failing to update his registration as a sex offender, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and Michael Hughes, U.S. Marshal for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, announced.

            McGant, who was convicted of a sex offense involving a minor in 2002, was required to register as a sex offender. In 2008, he informed Maryland sex offender registry authorities that he was moving to the District of Columbia, where he would register as a sex offender. However, McGant continued to live in Maryland, and he did not notify Maryland authorities to update his registration. In addition, for periods while McGant was living in Maryland, McGant registered as a sex offender in the District of Columbia and falsely claimed that he was living at certain addresses there. He was apprehended in February 2012 by the U.S. Marshals Service, which has launched a nationwide initiative targeting such crimes.

            McGant pled guilty in July 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Richard W. Roberts. In addition to the time in the halfway house, the judge ordered that McGant be placed on five years of supervised release and meet a number of conditions. For example, McGant must comply with sex offender registration requirements in any jurisdiction where he lives, works, engages in a vocation, or attends school. He also is to have no unsupervised contact with minors without prior permission of the U.S. Probation Office or the minors’ custodial parents or guardians.

            McGant was the second defendant to be indicted and convicted in the District of Columbia under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which requires anyone convicted of sex crimes under federal law, or anyone convicted in state court and traveling in interstate commerce, to register with law enforcement agencies where they live, work, or are a student.

The government’s evidence proved that McGant was convicted in 2002 in Maryland of sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl.  As a result of his conviction, McGant was considered a sex offender and was required by the State of Maryland to register as a sex offender in Maryland for life.  McGant also was required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act and by the District of Columbia to register as a sex offender in Washington, D.C., and to advise the District of Columbia of any changes in his residence and employment.  On multiple occasions between 2002 and 2011, the defendant signed a notice in which he acknowledged his duty to report any changes to his home, work, or school addresses.

            Beginning in 2008 and continuing through 2012, McGant registered as a sex offender in the District of Columbia, providing a home address in Northeast Washington. However, he actually was living at locations in Silver Spring and Rockville, Md.

            Between June 2010 and January 2012, McGant also falsely certified to D.C. sex offender registry authorities that he was “unemployed” or “self-employed.”  During the investigation, U.S. Marshal Service deputies also discovered that McGant used a fraudulent driver’s license and false date of birth, and falsified information about his criminal history in order to obtain employment in the District of Columbia.  Additionally, in January 2012, McGant fraudulently obtained a D.C. identification card, listing an additional address in Southeast Washington, even though he continued to live in Rockville and presented that fraudulent D.C. identification card and false address to D.C. sex offender registry authorities.

            As part of an overall strategy to combat child exploitation, the U.S. Marshals Service launched a nationwide operation in 2010 to target sex offenders who knowingly fail to comply with their sex offender registration requirements.  In McGant’s case, the U.S. Marshals Service uncovered a calculated effort by McGant to manipulate authorities in Maryland and the District of Columbia in an effort to evade detection as a sex offender.    

            The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.  The Adam Walsh Act also provides for the use of federal law enforcement resources, including the U.S. Marshals Service, to assist the states in locating and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders.                  

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen and U.S. Marshal Hughes commended the work of the U.S. Marshals Service’s Sex Offender Investigative Squad, and particularly Senior Inspector Floriano Whitwell and Deputy U.S. Marshal Jason Matthew, who uncovered a pattern of deceit and fraud by the defendant.

           Finally, they commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys David B. Kent and Ari Redbord, who prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura Coates, Andrea Hertzfeld, and Mark O’Brien, who assisted in the investigation.